Bethlehem nightclub loses liquor license appeal

A downtown Bethlehem nightclub has been dealt another blow in its fight to keep its liquor license, after a Northampton County judge rejected its appeal last week.

Judge Paula Roscioli found that 40 Below, an 18-and-over club at 40 W. Broad St., had a "pattern of criminal activity" at its premises that it failed to take sufficient measures to prevent.

In August, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board notified 40 Below that its license to serve liquor would not be renewed, after complaints of 11 incidents in less than two years involving "minors, fights and assaults."

The liquor board chided 40 Below for a "cavalier attitude toward its security," finding it didn't do enough to prevent underage drinking, the serving of intoxicated patrons, or the "numerous serious incidents of disturbances" inside and outside its premises.

Club owner and manager James Paey could challenge Roscioli's decision on Thursday in Commonwealth Court.

"We're still mulling over our options right now," Paul Johnston, 40 Below's attorney, said Monday. "I was hoping obviously for a different outcome."

In denying the liquor license renewal, regulators cited fights on the dance floor and outside 40 Below, many involving underage people who police determined were drunk. In April 2011, officers were called for the report of an unconscious woman in front of the club, finding an underage drinker who was so intoxicated she passed out while talking to police, according to court records.

During an incident in November 2010, an underage patron who had twice been thrown out of 40 Below smashed a window of a bouncer's car, was drunk and was wearing a wristband that allowed him to purchase alcohol in the club, records said.

Johnston contended that Paey never received a letter the liquor board sent in 2010 warning of the problems, and thus may not have been aware of the need to correct them. Johnston also argued that liquor officials failed to show the nightclub was responsible for the reported incidents.

Johnston said 40 Below remains open, though with limited days of operation.